Should Hillary Clinton embrace Obama's foreign policy?

By Frida Ghitis

Updated 2023 GMT (0323 HKT) June 11, 2014

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, pictured in October 2012, has become one of the most powerful people in Washington. Here's a look at her life and career through the years:

Hide Caption

1 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Before she married Bill Clinton, she was Hillary Rodham. Here, Rodham talks about student protests in 1969, which she supported in her commencement speech at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Hide Caption

2 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Rodham, center, a lawyer for the Rodino Committee, and John Doar, left, chief counsel for the committee, bring impeachment charges against President Richard Nixon in the Judiciary Committee hearing room at the U.S. Capitol in 1974.

Hide Caption

3 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton helps first lady Rosalynn Carter on a campaign swing through Arkansas in June 1979. Also seen in the photo is Hillary Clinton, center background.

Hide Caption

4 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Bill Clinton embraces his wife shortly after a stage light fell near her on January 26, 1992. They talk to Don Hewitt, producer of the CBS show "60 Minutes."

Hide Caption

5 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – With Hillary, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton waves to the crowd at his victory party after winning the Illinois primary on March 17, 1992.

Hide Caption

6 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Al Gore, Tipper Gore, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton wave to supporters at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, after they gave speeches on family values on August 23, 1992.

Hide Caption

7 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton gestures at a campaign rally November 3, 1992, in Denver. After taking office, President Clinton chose his wife to head a special commission on health care reform, the most significant public policy initiative of his first year in office.

Hide Caption

8 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Bill and Hillary Clinton have a laugh together on Capitol Hill in 1993.

Hide Caption

9 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton pours herself a cup of tea in 1993 while testifying to the Senate Education and Labor Committee about health care reform.

Hide Caption

10 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton speaks at George Washington University on September 10, 1993, in Washington during her husband's first term.

Hide Caption

11 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton waves to the media on January 26, 1996, as she arrives at federal court in Washington for an appearance before a grand jury. The first lady was subpoenaed to testify as a witness in the investigation of the Whitewater land deal in Arkansas.

Hide Caption

12 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Hillary Clinton looks on as President Clinton discusses the Monica Lewinsky scandal in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 26, 1998.

Hide Caption

13 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Hillary and Bill Clinton arrive at Foundry United Methodist Church on August 16, 1998, in Washington. He became the first sitting president to testify before a grand jury when he testified via satellite about the Lewinsky matter.

Hide Caption

14 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton shakes hands during a St. Patrick's Day parade in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens, New York, on March 5, 2000.

Hide Caption

15 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton waves to the crowd as she arrives on the stage at the Democratic National Convention on August 14, 2000, in Los Angeles.

Hide Caption

16 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton campaigns for a Senate seat October 25, 2000, at Grand Central Station in New York.

Hide Caption

17 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Hillary Clinton is sworn in as a senator of New York in a re-enactment ceremony with, from left, President Clinton, nephew Tyler, daughter Chelsea, brother Hugh Rodham, mother Dorothy Rodham and Vice President Al Gore on January 3, 2001, in Washington.

Hide Caption

18 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Andrew Cuomo, Eliot Spitzer and Clinton celebrate with a crowd of Democratic supporters after their wins in various races November 7, 2006, in New York.

Hide Caption

19 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton speaks during a post-primary rally on January 8, 2007, at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Hide Caption

20 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – The Clintons pay a visit to the 92nd annual Hopkinton State Fair in Contoocook, New Hampshire, on September 2, 2007.

Hide Caption

21 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton speaks at a campaign rally September 2, 2007, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Hide Caption

22 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton addresses a question during a debate with other Democratic presidential candidate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, on September 26, 2007. Also pictured are U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, left, and former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska.

Hide Caption

23 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Felipe Bravo, left, and Christian Caraballo are covered with Hillary Clinton stickers in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire, on January 8, 2008.

Hide Caption

24 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton campaigns in Council Bluffs, Iowa, with her daughter, Chelsea, on January 1, 2008, two days ahead of the January 3 state caucus.

Hide Caption

25 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton waves as she speaks to supporters at the National Building Museum on June 7, 2008, in Washington. After pulling out of the presidential race, Clinton thanked her supporters and urged them to back Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States.

Hide Caption

26 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Obama and Clinton talk on the plane on their way to a Unity Rally in Unity, New Hampshire, on June 27, 2008.

Hide Caption

27 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Obama watches Clinton address the Democratic National Convention on August 26, 2008. The two endured a long, heated contest for the 2008 nomination.

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton testifies during her confirmation hearing for secretary of state on January 13, 2009, in Washington.

Hide Caption

30 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton, as secretary of state, dances with a local choir while visiting the Victoria Mxenge Housing Project in Philippi, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, on August 8, 2009.

Hide Caption

31 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton looks through binoculars toward North Korea during a visit to an observation post July 21, 2010, at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.

Hide Caption

32 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton walks up the steps to her aircraft as she leaves a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on July 23, 2010, in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Hide Caption

33 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Hillary and Bill Clinton pose on the day of their daughter's wedding to Marc Mezvinsky on July 31, 2010, in Rhinebeck, New York.

Hide Caption

34 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – U.S. President Barack Obama and Clinton observe a moment of silence before a NATO meeting November 19, 2010, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Hide Caption

35 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton listens as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu makes a brief statement November 29, 2010, before a bilateral meeting at the State Department in Washington.

Hide Caption

36 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton shakes hands with a child during an unannounced walk through Tahrir Square in Cairo on March 16, 2011.

Hide Caption

37 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Clinton and members of Obama's national security team receive an update on the Osama bin Laden mission May 1, 2011, in the Situation Room of the White House.

Hide Caption

38 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton checks her personal digital assistant prior to departing Malta on October 18, 2011.

Hide Caption

39 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton dances while in Cartagena, Colombia, on April 15, 2012.

Hide Caption

40 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton enjoys a beer at Cafe Havana in Cartagena, Colombia, on April 15, 2012.

Hide Caption

41 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton appears with little makeup during an event in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on May 6, 2012. She tells CNN, "I feel so relieved to be at the stage I'm at in my life right now ... Because you know if I want to wear my glasses, I'm wearing my glasses. If I want to wear my hair back I'm pulling my hair back. You know at some point it's just not something that deserves a lot of time and attention."

Hide Caption

42 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton speaks as Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai listens during a news conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 7, 2012.

Hide Caption

43 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton arrives at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel on July 15, 2012.

Hide Caption

44 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton looks on as Obama makes a statement in response to the attack at the U.S. Consulate in Libya on September 12, 2012.

Hide Caption

45 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton applauds Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a ceremony where Suu Kyi was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal on September 19, 2012.

Hide Caption

46 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Bill Clinton kisses his wife after introducing her at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting on September 24, 2012, in New York City.

Hide Caption

47 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton shakes hands with Libyan President Mohamed Magariaf on September 24, 2012, in New York.

Hide Caption

48 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton stands during a news conference following meetings at the prime minister's office in Pristina, Kosovo, on October 31, 2012. Clinton said that Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence, fiercely opposed by Serbia, was "not up for discussion."

Hide Caption

49 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton chats with Suu Kyi before Obama speaks at the University of Yangon in Yangon, Myanmar, on November 19, 2012.

Hide Caption

50 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Obama looks at Clinton before the start of a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, far right, during the East Asian Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on November 20, 2012.

Hide Caption

51 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Clinton at the prime minister's office November 20, 2012, in Jerusalem.

Hide Caption

52 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton receives a sports jersey and football helmet from Deputy Secretary Tom Nides, center, after returning to work on January 7, 2013, following a fall where she hit her head and doctors later detected a blood clot. The number 112 represented the number of countries that she had visited as secretary of state.

Hide Caption

53 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton and her husband arrive for the inauguration for Obama's second term on January 21, 2013.

Hide Caption

54 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill on January 23, 2013. Lawmakers questioned Clinton about the security failures during the Benghazi, Libya, attacks that led to the death of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Hide Caption

55 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – From left, first lady Michelle Obama stands with former first ladies Laura Bush, Clinton, Barbara Bush and Rosalynn Carter at the opening ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas on April 25, 2013.

Hide Caption

56 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – From left, Clinton, former first lady Laura Bush and former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush listen to speakers during the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in Soweto, South Africa, on December 10.

Hide Caption

57 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Photos: Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton ducks after a woman threw a shoe at her while she was delivering remarks at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries conference in Las Vegas on April 10.

Hide Caption

58 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Photos: Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton tours the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York with President Barack Obama, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, first lady Michelle Obama and former President Clinton on May 15.

Hide Caption

59 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton sits down with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer on Thursday, June 5, for her first television interview in conjunction with the release of her new book, "Hard Choices."

Hide Caption

60 of 61

Photos: Clinton's political career61 photos

Hillary Clinton's career in the spotlight – Clinton makes 10-year-old Macy Friday's day as she campaigns for U.S. Sen. Mark Udall during a stop Monday, October 13, in Union Station in Denver.

Hide Caption

61 of 61

Story highlights

Frida Ghitis: Hillary Clinton has to walk a tightrope when it comes to foreign policy

Clinton can't disown Obama's policies, but she differed with him on key issues, says Ghitis

She says Clinton wanted to arm Syria rebels and keep a large force in Iraq

Ghitis: As Obama loses support on foreign policy, Clinton can maintain her standing

Should Hillary Clinton embrace or criticize President Barack Obama's foreign policy? This is a particularly complicated choice she faces as she sets out on what looks like a soft launch of a presidential campaign with her "Hard Choices" memoir.

She must distance herself from key elements of Obama's controversial foreign policy record while simultaneously defending it because, after all, as secretary of state she was a prominent official on the administration's foreign policy team.

The answer is a delicate balance, one that risks looking like clever calculation but in fact reflects reality.

The fact is that Clinton, as administration insiders have repeatedly confirmed, offered Obama strong advice, which he often ignored. The record shows that in areas where Obama did not heed Clinton's more muscular approach, the outcomes have at times proved little short of disastrous.

Frida Ghitis

Where he listened to her, as when she urged him to launch the risky raid to kill Osama bin Laden or shift U.S. policy for Myanmar, the administration scored tangible gains.

Clinton cannot launch a wholesale attack on Obama's policies. That would reek of disloyalty, it would anger Obama's core supporters, and it would risk looking like an assault on her own record as the country's top diplomat.

At the same time, she cannot simply ignore the controversies and wage an energetic defense, a full embrace of America's international record at a time when Obama is scoring the lowest poll numbers of his presidency on that issue. Obama's foreign policy looks like a key vulnerability for Democrats in the next presidential election.

Landscape leaves much to be desired

Just Watched

Fareed's Take: Is deterrence enough?

Just Watched

Rice: Allies have confidence in Obama

It's impossible to know with certainty if different policies would have yielded better results, but there is no question that the global landscape six years into Obama's presidency leaves much to be desired.

Ties with key Arab allies are frayed. In Egypt, all sides are angry at Washington. The U.S. supported democratic aspirations there over the fate of an authoritarian but loyal ally, former President Hosni Mubarak. Now Egypt has no democracy and another authoritarian ruler.

What's a former secretary of state and likely presidential candidate to do?

The answer is to carefully draw the tactical differences with her former boss, explaining that many of the strategic objectives were similar -- and thus drawing a clear distinction with Republicans -- while respectfully showing where she and the President she loyally served disagreed.

Parting ways on Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq

Where did they disagree? On Syria, Clinton was one of the early advocates of arming moderates fighting President Bashar al-Assad. Obama chose to largely stay out, while declaring that al-Assad must go.

Now, in what should be a profound embarrassment for the administration, Obama's man in Damascus has turned on the President.

Former Ambassador Robert Ford said he resigned because "I was no longer in a position where I felt I could defend American policy." Terrorist groups are running free. "We warned this would happen, and it has," Ford said. "The State Department thought we needed to give much more help" to the opposition. That is what Clinton has recommended.

Another area of disagreement was Afghanistan. Clinton supported Obama's 2009 surge, but she opposed his decision to announce an early date for the troops' withdrawal. According to Vali Nasr, who served on Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke's Afghanistan-Pakistan mission, Clinton was "eyed with suspicion" by the White House, which sidelines the State Department on most foreign policy.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote that she "argued forcefully" against the Afghanistan withdrawal date.

Obama's decision to announce an Afghanistan withdrawal date sent a message to the Taliban that they could wait out the U.S. presence, undermining the impact of Obama's surge, as Clinton warned. Obama's reluctance to take on a more assertive international leadership position, to follow a more muscular foreign policy - which she had advocated -- arguably empowered extremists everywhere.

She also advised Obama against turning his back on Egypt's Mubarak, urging the President to advocate a more gradual transition to democracy. Obama rejected her advice and things did not go well for Egypt or for relations between the two countries.

In the end, the two countries could not reach agreement and all Americans left. Perhaps it would not have been possible to keep a U.S. force there, but recent events underline that her instincts were correct. Iraq is now teetering, with an al Qaeda spin-off gaining key territory from the central government.

Several administration insiders, including Nasr, confirm the account that Clinton was a strong advocate on the raid that killed bin Laden, whose position was at odds with that of Gates and Vice President Joe Biden.

In her book, speaking of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Clinton says she disagreed with Obama's tactical move to demand a complete settlement freeze from Israel. She said she thought the emphasis was misplaced and created unnecessary tensions. Not everyone believes her claim that she was just a messenger for his policy when she promoted that approach. But Nasr says the Arab-Israeli issue was "for all practical purposes managed from the White House."

Soft power approach in 112 countries

With the White House taking control of most big foreign policy areas, Clinton found a separate path, launching a campaign of public diplomacy, traveling to 112 countries, drawing large crowds and making headlines.

It was a soft power approach, but it raised America's profile, advancing women's rights along with one of her top policy goals. In 2010, she explained that "my big-picture commitment is to restore American leadership ... everything I've done is in in furtherance of that."

On the Benghazi, Libya, events that ended in the death of America's ambassador to Libya, she will not be able to deflect full responsibility onto Obama. But her argument may resonate in some quarters when she says that Republican attacks on her over Benghazi make her want to run for office.

"Our great country should not be playing minor league ... we ought to be in majors," and the Republican reaction to Benghazi is a distraction from what Congress should be doing to raise America's game.

Clinton did not get everything right. Her failure to list Nigeria's Boko Haram as a terrorist organization, for example, was a mistake. And to the extent that she did play a role in Obama's foreign policy, she cannot completely disassociate herself from his failures. But her instincts on many counts were on target.

Before leaving office, Clinton writes, she left a note to Obama warning about Putin. "If Putin is restrained and doesn't push beyond Crimea into eastern Ukraine it will not be because he has lost his appetite for more power, territory and influence."

Clinton can embrace Obama's goal of leading a country that is respected as a symbol of freedom in the world, while explaining that she would have done some things differently. That if Obama had listened to the hard choices she suggested, America -- and the world -- would be better off.